


Wanna Bet?

by bettycooperthefirst



Category: Riverdale (TV 2017)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-08-19
Updated: 2018-09-01
Packaged: 2019-06-29 10:22:06
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 10,171
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15727455
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bettycooperthefirst/pseuds/bettycooperthefirst
Summary: **ABANDONED WORK** Veronica Lodge lives her life following one unfortunate rule: she can't date until Betty Cooper does. When Archie Andrews comes to Riverdale High and immediately starts crushing on Veronica, he will do anything to get someone to ask Betty on a date- even if it means reaching out to the only person in school who's just as scary as she is.(This is 100% a Bughead 10 Things I Hate About You AU. Archie and Veronica are in it, as well as other characters from Riverdale- I've somehow just started writing all my fics with Choni as supporting characters that are already in love?- but this isn't a Varchie story. That is not to say Varchie won't happen here, just that it isn't where the focus will be.)





	1. The Domino Effect

_**Nothing is cut and dry here. If you’re looking for a story with a clear cut “good guy,” you’ve come to the wrong place. If you don’t want to see people make questionable decisions, I suggest that you bow out now. People do stupid things for love. Scratch that. People do stupid things for lust. Or like. Or caveman style “she pretty.” People do stupid things for money. But that doesn’t mean they don’t have a good reason. That’s up to you to decide. I’m just here to get things started. To help you understand what we’re dealing with here. And in order to do that, we need to rewind. You ready? Let’s start.** _

It all would have been fine if it wasn’t for The Rule.

Betty Cooper had moved in with the Lodge family when she was only four years old. When her parents died in a car accident, they left custody of their daughter to their closest and oldest friends, who also had a daughter only one year younger than their own. So Betty and Veronica went to their first funeral and then Betty’s limited belongings were moved into the Lodge’s guest bedroom. From that day forward, it was Betty’s. 

Betty was fairly certain that her parents had always imagined her growing up with Veronica anyway. Having sleepovers, braiding each others hair, sharing secrets like only best friends would. Betty was also fairly certain that even if her parents were still alive, this never would have happened.

Veronica grew up taking advantage of all the things her name had to offer her, while Betty refused to indulge in any of the perks of living in the Lodge manor. It’s not that Betty faulted her for this, it was just one of the things that made the two girls realize how different they really were. 

Veronica favored dresses, nice blouses, fine jewelry. Betty preferred a nice t shirt or flannel, something that gave her the freedom to get messy working on cars down at the garage in town. She’d started working there for free back in eighth grade, after begging the owner to give her a chance. She’d started getting paid for her work a year later. Veronica would never set foot near anything that could get that kind of grease on her outfit of the day. As a matter of fact, Veronica would never work for her money when she didn’t really have to.

All of this was fine. They’d never be the best of friends, but it was someone their age to hang out with on the family vacations and occasionally watch a movie with in the manors media center. Not every relationship was meant to be best friends forever and always.

But one of their biggest differences had been known in the household for as long as they could both remember. Veronica got her first crush in third grade and had been talking about the boys of Riverdale ever since. A boy had a crush on Betty in the third grade and she had punched him on the playground when he got too close to her.

It was this fact that blew up in their faces a week before the Homecoming Dance Veronica’s sophomore year of high school. 

“Daddy.” Veronica had said hesitantly, pushing her mashed potatoes around her plate at the dinner table.

“Yes?” Hiram answered from his seat at the head of the table, raising his eyebrows at his daughter.

“I was asked to the Homecoming Dance. I’d really like to go with-“

He didn’t even let her finish the sentence.

“No. You’re not ready to date.”

“I’m 15.” Veronica tried to keep an even tone, but her frustration was already clearing boiling underneath.

“And Betty is 16. You don’t see her dating.”

Veronica looked across the table at Betty, who only shrugged at her and ate a mouthful of mashed potatoes.

“Betty and I are two very different people.”

It was Hiram’s turn to look at Betty. Even though he already knew the answer, he asked. “Are there any boys at your school that you’re interested in?”

Betty scanned through the student body in her mind and gave a quick shake of her head. “No. They’re all pigs.”

Hiram turned his gaze back to his daughter. “They’re all pigs Veronica.” He said this like it was a stone cold fact.

But Veronica was not going to lose so easily. The look she gave Betty was half pleading, half pure exasperation. “Oh come on, they are not all pigs and you know it.”

Betty refused to make eye contact with Veronica, buttering her bread as she replied “All the ones I’ve met are.”

Veronica could feel herself losing traction. “It really doesn’t matter anyway. No one asked her to the dance. I’m the one who has a date.”

Hiram’s eyes were shining with triumph.

“You don’t have a date. And as a matter of fact, until Betty starts dating, I don’t see why you should either. She’s clearly got her head on straight and I trust her judgment.”

That was Veronica’s tipping point. “That is completely unfair. I’ll never date then! She thinks they’re all pigs but they don’t like her either! She scares them! How am I ever going to get a boyfriend if this is going to be a thing now?”

“I guess you won’t get a boyfriend. Because this is a thing now.” Hiram’s tone said this was the bottom line, and just like that the conversation moved on. “Pass the salt.”

It was a year later, and the rule was still standing. Many a guy had tried to ask Veronica Lodge on a date, and each and every one of them had been shot down. Sometimes because she wasn’t interested, but more often because her father stood by the rule he had made like it was written in stone. Betty wasn’t dating, so neither was Veronica. It wasn’t lost on either of the girls that this was just his trick to keep his daughter from dating, but no matter how many glares Veronica shot at Betty across the dinner table, she wasn’t going to date anyone. 

For Betty’s part, it had nothing to do with Hiram or Veronica that she wasn’t putting herself out there with the boys in her class. She didn’t like them and they didn’t like her. She kept to herself, working at the garage and really only bothering to communicate with two people from her school: Toni, the only other girl who worked with her, and Toni’s girlfriend, Cheryl. It had long been obvious that she had no desire to talk to anyone else at her school unless they said something to really piss her off in class and she felt a point needed to be made. 

Going into junior year, Veronica had just about given up on ever seeing the light of day for any “normal high school experiences.” But the first day of school held the promise of a new start. And that promise was somehow held within Archie Andrews as he adjusted his sweater and climbed the steps to his new high school.

He’d moved to Riverdale over the summer. For most kids, it wouldn’t have been ideal to move across the country right in the middle of their high school career. But for Archie, it was the opportunity of a lifetime. He’d gotten to his junior year fighting the upstream battle to recognition at his old school. He was fairly certain that half of his old class wouldn’t even notice that he was gone. At Riverdale High, no one knew that he’d failed entirely at being anything special, that he’d been the school mascot or that he’d been shot down by Valerie Brown in the middle of the dance floor at Sophomore Spring Fling. 

When he arrived at his locker on the first day of school, Archie Andrews was ready for a change. 

_**Have you ever heard of the domino effect? One thing happens and it sets into motion a series of events that wouldn’t have happened otherwise. Don’t jump to conclusions. Archie Andrews is not who this story is about. We haven’t even gotten to that yet. But although he may not be the shining hero of our story, he was the person that set into motion that events that will follow.** _

On that day, Archie Andrews looked across the hall from his locker, to see a dark haired girl at her own. She put in her combination and glanced casually over her shoulder, seeing him and offering a smile. Archie closed his own locker to see a boy watching him from 2 lockers down.

“Hey.” He said cautiously, and the other, better dressed boy shot him a smile. “Who’s that girl?”

“Veronica Lodge?”

Archie looked back across the hall as the girl carefully pulled a heavy looking book from her locker.

“Maybe?”

The boy two lockers down shook his head in disappointment. “You’re going to drown here.”

“Excuse me?” 

Archie’s look of shock only egged the other boy on.

“I can see it on your face. You think this is exciting, being in a new place, new people. Theres a pretty girl with a locker across the hall who does her lipstick just right every morning. But this isn’t your fairytale, my friend. This is the Thunderdome.”

“That seems extreme.”

“It’s not.” The boy walked closer and stuck out his hand. “I’m Kevin by the way.”

“Archie.”

“Archie. Of course that would be your name.” Kevin sighed like this should have been obvious to him from the get go. “Archie, do you see that door at the end of the hall?”

Archie turned and scanned the wall to see a door marked “Varsity Locker Room.”

“Um yeah? Boys locker room?”

“That” Kevin gestured, “is not the boys locker room. That is the VARSITY boys locker room. Unless you can secure a spot in that room, nothing extraordinary will be happening to you around here. And Veronica Lodge will not be giving you the time of day.”

Archie checked the other side of the hall again, where Veronica was closing her locker.

“She looks like a nice girl.”

“She is a nice girl. But she doesn’t date. And if she did, it would be someone like Reggie Mantle. Not someone like us.”

Even though Archie didn’t have a clue who Reggie Mantle was, he nodded. He had a pretty good idea of what Kevin was implying.

“Have you tried?”

“To date Veronica Lodge? No.” Kevin laughed. “To date Reggie Mantle? Yes. In any case, Veronica’s dad doesn’t allow her to date.”

Archie took this information in one ear and out the other. On one hand, he’d only ever seen her and didn’t yet know anything about her. On the other hand, he was still interested in finding out more.

As he started his day, he ended up in second and third period with Veronica herself, and when he ran into Kevin again for fourth period, he already had his mind made up. On their way to lunch, Archie broached the topic again with more confidence.

“I want to ask Veronica Lodge to go on a date with me.”

Kevin didn’t even look at him as he grabbed a lunch tray.

“Not this again. You barely know her.”

Archie followed him down the line, but his mind wasn’t on lunch right now.

“I’d get to know her more first. But she’s in my Lit class and my Econ class. I talked to her.”

Kevin rolled his eyes and slid a greasy slice of cheese pizza off of an almost empty pan. 

“Well that was bound to happen at some point.”

“She’s good at Econ. Like she excels in it, answering every question, easily explaining things to other people. I’ve never understood Econ in my life. She’s not just pretty, she’s incredibly smart.”

“I’m sure that’s why her dad doesn’t want her to date. He probably knows that his daughters a catch.”

But Archie wasn't budging. There was something about Veronica that he just felt drawn to. He couldn’t place it yet, but he knew that he’d never find out unless he gave it a real shot.

“I’m sure he has to let her date at some point.”

“You’re right.” Kevin said, handing his student ID to the cashier. “And that point is when Betty Cooper dates.”

“Betty Cooper?”

Kevin gestured across the room to a small table where three girls sat. One was a red head, sitting tall and exuding an air of confidence. To her right was a girl with pink hair, eating an apple while she listened to the red head speak. And on the other side, a blonde, completely engrossed in a book instead of the conversation.

“The blonde.” Kevin said.

“What about her?”

“She lives with the Lodges. She’s basically Veronica's sister, their parents were best friends. But then when we were really young, I was three, Betty must have been four, her parents died. They left her in the Lodges custody so even though they never adopted her, she’s like their other daughter.”

This wasn’t clearing anything up in Archie’s brain.

“That's really sad but I’m still not following.”

Kevin started to make a beeline for an empty table at the back of the cafeteria. “Betty doesn’t date. I heard Veronica’s dad made some kind of rule that Veronica couldn’t date until she did. All the guys talked about it in the locker room after gym last year after one of them got shot down. Three or four more of them tried and they all got the same answer.” Kevin slid into a chair and Archie mirrored him. “V can’t date until B does.”

“And Betty’s never dated anyone?”

“No. Everyone’s kind of scared of her at this point. When she was a freshman, apparently she tried to make a move on Reggie and he turned her down. She got super pissed when everyone found out and stopped talking to everybody. She only talks to Toni and Cheryl because her and Toni work together. Trev Brown asked her out last year on a dare. I was there and I have to say it was iconic.” Kevin said this last part with a smile.

“What happened?”

“He went up to her while she was getting her books from her locker and put on this ridiculous flirting face, even leaned up against the locker next to hers like it was a 90’s rom com. He asked her if she was going to some party that was happening that weekend. She said ‘are you going to be there?’ He nodded, said yes, got this big smirk on his face. She looked him right in the eye and said ‘Then no. I’d rather eat glass.’ Then she turned around and just walked away.”

“Shit.” 

Kevin nodded and picked up his greasy pizza. “No one is going to ask her out after that.”

“Well, we’re just going to have to find someone who will.”

Kevin let out a theatrical sigh. “I just said no one would do it.”

“There’s got to be someone around here that has the balls.”

“I’m telling you, there’s no one here who has the balls that would actually even talk to you. Sure, maybe the scariest guy in school would have the balls, but theres a reason no one talks to him either.”

“Who’s the scariest guy in school?”

Kevin shrugged. “Probably Jughead Jones. Just because he never talks to anyone and no one knows what to expect from him other than that he rides a motorcycle and his dad’s the local gang leader.”

“Do you think he’d do it?”

Kevin slowly swallowed a bite of his pizza and looked at Archie like he was from another planet.

“I don’t know. But you’re not going to ask him.”

“Where can I find him?”

Kevin considered Archie for a moment before letting out a sigh of surrender. 

“After school. He goes to Pop’s most days, the local diner. Gets burgers and fries and stuff. We can go there.”

“So you’re going to help me?” Archies grin widened and Kevin shook his head in disbelief.

“Has anyone ever told you that you’re like a golden retriever?” 

This only made Archie smile more.

Kevin laughed. “No. I’m not going to help. But if there’s going to be a trainwreck, I’m definitely going to be there to see it.”

 

So Archie and Kevin went to Pops after school. Archie thought to himself how this year was supposed to be different. How he wanted to be more confident. How he wanted to not be invisible. And he walked up to the booth where Jughead Jones sat alone with a cheeseburger and fries and slid in across from him.

Jughead looked up from his burger in confusion. “Can I help you?”

“My name is Archie Andrews.” He stuck his hand out. “I have a proposition for you.”

Jughead looked from Archie’s hand and back up to his face without setting down the cheeseburger in his hands. 

“A proposition?”

Archie set his rejected hand down and pushed through.

“Do you know Betty Cooper?”

Jughead let out a short laugh. “Yeah. I know her.”

“I want you to ask her on a date.”

“Why?” Jughead’s eyes immediately became shrouded with suspicion. 

“You’d get a date with a pretty girl.”

Jughead set the cheeseburger down. For a moment, Archie thought he was making progress, but then Jughead’s hand reached for the fries.

“I don’t date.”

“Just this once.”

Jughead leaned back in the booth, studying Archie.

“I don’t have the time. I need to get a job.”

“It’s only one-“

Jughead cut him off with a short nod.

“I’m telling you no.”

Archie's stomach filled with nerves. He wasn't prepared for blatant denial like this. As he slowly got up, the gears in his mind were turning rapidly. According to Kevin this was his only option. Standing at the end of the table, about to walk away, he realized it.

“What if it was a job?”

Jughead had already picked the burger back up and was mid bite when he twisted his face to look at Archie.

“Excuse me?”

“What if I could pay you?”

A look of disbelief crossed over Jughead’s face. “You want to pay me to ask a girl out?”

“Yes.”

The burger went down again.

“Are you trying to embarrass this girl? I don’t want any part in that.”

Archie shook his head emphatically.

“No. I just want to ask her sister out and she can’t go unless Betty goes on a date too.”

“What kind of bullshit is that?”

Archie glanced over to where Kevin was standing a few booths away. His new friend gave him a half hearted thumbs up.

“I don’t know.”

“You really like this other girl?”

Archie nodded even harder. “She’s awesome.”

“Stop acting like a bobble head.” Archie froze in place before Jughead continued. “How much are we talking?”

“Ten bucks.”

The intimidating boy let out a short laugh. “Are you joking?”

“Fifty bucks.” It was all Archie had. It seemed a reasonable amount to pay for his ticket into a good year.

“One date?” Jughead looked him right in the eye.

Archie gave one short nod, trying to exude confidence.

“Done.”

_**Remember what I said earlier? Questionable decisions. It’s hard to say who’s decision here was more questionable, but there are variables to this situation that you don’t yet know. In any case, we’re all caught up now to where our story really begins. There’s one more thing that you might be wondering before we get started. Who the fuck are you to tell me what’s going on here? You don’t need to know that yet either.** _

_**Just remember what I said. Don’t jump to conclusions. People do stupid things for reasons that they find justified. Don’t tell me you haven’t done it.** _

_**Maybe this can serve as some sort of cautionary tale.** _

_**Maybe it will go in one ear and out the other, the same way Veronica’s situation did for Archie. Who’s to say?** _

_**Regardless of any of that, the first domino has been pushed.** _

_**So let’s get on with it shall we?** _

 

 

> Betty

_One day down._ Betty Cooper was thinking, climbing the steps to Riverdale High. _Only upwards of 200 to go._

In Betty’s humble opinion, Riverdale High School was trash. The way things operated within the walls of the school was completely ridiculous. The football stars running the show, the cheerleaders being peppy and popular. It was just like every high school movie ever. And Betty couldn’t wait until her senior year came to a close and she could run as far away as possible.

But was not the end of the year yet. It was only the second day. So she walked to her locker and tried not to make eye contact with anyone around her. She’d see Toni third period, but until then, she’d be wearing her blinders. Like anyone ever had anything to say to her anyway.

“Excuse me.” A deep voice came from her right as she stood at her locker. She ignored it, switching out her history textbook for her English notebook.

“Excuse me.” The voice said again. It didn’t seem like it would be going away anytime soon.

“Are you talking to me?” she said it half heartedly, still refusing to give the voice her full attention.

“Is that so shocking?”

She turned to see a dark haired boy in a leather jacket. She'd seen him around before. Jughead Jones. He was a total loner and there was some kind of rumor about him that she couldn't quite remember. 

“Do you ever talk to anyone?” she asked him, as blunt as possible.

“Touche." She saw a smile pull at the side of his mouth. "But I could say the same to you.”

“At least I have friends.” She shot back.

Jughead- _what kind of name was that? Jughead?_ \- let out a deep sigh. “This is off to a great start.”

“What is off to a great start? You still haven’t told me why you’re here.”

She watched as he switched his face from a slight grimace to what seemed to be an attempt at a smolder. 

“I wanted to know if you’d like to go on a date with me this Friday night.”

Betty looked around her. No one else was paying attention to this little exchange at her locker. She felt like she was in a parallel universe.

“Have we ever even spoken before? I don’t think we have.”

His smolder was turned down a few degrees by this fact. “I’m not sure.”

“You’re not sure?” she widened her eyes at him and he just stood there like the idiot he clearly was, not knowing how to respond. All Betty could do was sigh.

“You know, this is a ringing endorsement. An impressive attempt. But the answer is no.”

She slammed her locker door and walked off, not looking back.

 

 


	2. Attribution Theory

> **** Jughead

He didn’t have some origin story for why he didn’t like his classmates. He just couldn’t stand them. He didn’t like the football team with their tendency to think they were better than everyone else and take pride in their keg stand average. He didn’t like the cheerleaders, who spread drama like it was their job and refused to learn even though they were at school. The mathletes, who assumed they were the only ones who could be smart, the drama kids who sang in the hallways, the kids who just smoked pot behind the school and pretended they didn’t care about anything when they clearly cared the most. The bottom line was, they were all so predictable. And not engaging, watching from the sidelines, had only made this fact more obvious to him as the years went on.

But he hadn’t predicted Betty Cooper’s response to his invitation. As a matter of fact, he had no idea what to expect. The things that he’d observed about her were a tangle of contradictions. According to popular gossip, she’d asked Reggie out their freshman year and freaked when he said no. She’d shot Trev Brown down like he was ridiculous for even trying. But there were other things that he had noticed from his people watching in the lunch room. She read for at least half of lunch on any given day. A mismatch of books- one day it would be Pride and Prejudice, the next The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo, followed easily by a fantasy novel, a horror novel, a book of poetry, a book of essays. He’d seen her sometimes wearing a jean jacket with patches on it: Cats Against Catcalls, The Future Is Female- she seemed to hate every guy in the school, but a girl who read Jane Austen couldn’t be completely against love. 

It was just one date. He’d been nice about it. And she had no reason to hate him- he wasn’t a football stud who hung out with all the guys she hated. He thought maybe that would count for something. But it hadn’t. 

**_Attribution theory is about the way that people explain the behavior of others. For example, after Betty slammed her locker door and walked off, Jughead attributed this behavior to whatever it was that caused her blatant disgust toward the male gender. Betty attributed Jughead’s behavior to some kind of sick joke. Both of them were wrong._ **

Sitting in Pop’s that afternoon, Jughead tried to push the whole thing out of his mind.

“I tried.” He told Archie with a shrug, ready to move on from whatever this little game was.

But the red head wasn’t having it. “Well you have to go back and try again.”

Jughead raised his eyebrows. This preppy kid had balls.

“It won’t change anything.”

Archie shook his head. Jughead could see the gears grinding inside. “We need to get to know her. Get inside her head.”

“I don’t think that’s possible.” But Jughead didn’t move from the booth they shared at Pops. He wanted to see what Archie and his friend Kevin were going to suggest.

Archie looked Jughead in the eye, a challenge lurking behind his pupils.

“Fine. It wouldn’t have worked anyway. You’re you.”

“What is that supposed to mean?”

Archie shrugged. Jughead could tell that he was trying to act casual, but it was all an act.

“I’m willing to bet she’s heard about your reputation-“

“Remember who you’re talking to.” He knew what the kid was trying to do. But he still wasn’t going to take it. “I could get her to go out with me just fine. I just don’t feel like it.”

Kevin sighed, finally looking up from his milkshake to join the conversation. “You two are useless. She’s not interested right now. She doesn’t know you. She thinks you’re just some idiot boy trying to win some kind of bet.”

“I kind of am.” Jughead pointed out.

Kevin shook his head. The look on his face said that he clearly saw himself as only one here who really understood the situation. 

“You have to show genuine interest. You went up to her and admitted that the two of you have never even talked. You have to put in the effort to show that you really want to know her. That’s what girls like. That’s what fucking everyone likes when they don’t think with their dicks.”

“Regardless, the deal was that I’d ask her on a date. Not that I’d…” Jughead winced at the term, “court her.”

But Archie was back to nodding like a bobble head. “I’ll get you more money. Just go talk to her tomorrow and by the end of the day I’ll have it. Another $50.”

Jughead laughed. “This isn’t going to be easy.”

“$50 for every day that you have to woo her.”

Jughead raised his eyebrows.

“First of all, never use the word ‘woo’ again. Second, where are you getting that kind of money?”

Archie glanced at Kevin and then locked his eyes on Jughead's. 

“Don’t worry about it. Just start tomorrow and I’ll get it to you at the end of the day.”

“Why should I trust you?”

Archie let out a defeated sigh.

“If I don’t have it, you never have to talk to me or to her again and we pretend this never happened.”

 

> Veronica

Standing outside of Betty’s door, Veronica had a plan brewing in her head.

Every year, a senior threw a beginning of year party the first Saturday after school started. She’d been invited before, obviously, but had never been allowed to go because Betty never went to parties.

But this year was different. Because this year, Betty was a senior, and the senior with the biggest house always got to throw the party. There was only one person with a house bigger than the Lodges. 

Veronica knocked and waited until Betty called out “come in” halfheartedly from the other side of the door.

Veronica opened it to see Betty lying on her bed staring at her phone.

“Don’t you have homework?” Veronica said it without thinking.

“Yes mom. But I already did it.” She pointed across the room to her desk, where a textbook sat. “Do you want to grade my Psych homework? I have some Math problems that might need checking too.”

“Sorry. I actually just wanted to double check something with you.”

Betty sat up, the suspicion clear in her voice. “What do you want?”

“I don’t want anything, I just want to confirm something that I’m already pretty sure of before we go to dinner.”

“And that is?”

Veronica tried to say it as casually as she could. “That you’re going to the party this weekend.”

“Have I ever gone to a party?”

“No. But this one is different. One of your friends is throwing it.”

This was the ace in Veronica’s pocket. Cheryl Blossom, one of Betty’s only known friends, was hosting the party at her family’s mansion.

But Betty wasn’t biting. “And?”

Veronica shrugged like it didn’t matter to her either way, but inside she was getting nervous. “I just thought you’d want to go and support her. Besides, it’s your senior year.”

“I know what you’re doing Veronica.” Betty gave her that same pointed look that she’d been shooting at Veronica since she was five years old and tried to blame Hermione's broken necklace on the cat. 

“Betty. Hear me out. If you don’t go to this with me this year, I will literally never set foot in one of the beginning of year parties. No way does Dad let me go next year without you.”

“He won’t let you go this year without me.” Betty pointed out, as if Veronica wasn’t fully aware of her predicament. 

Veronica walked slowly to sit next to Betty on her bed. 

“Three hours. That’s all I’m asking. It’s your friends house. If you hate it, she’ll let you go in her room and just hangout alone. Or you can just do that right off the bat. But I am begging you, please just go with me. Just this once.”

Betty didn’t make eye contact with Veronica when she answered. 

“Two hours. And when time is up, we are leaving, no begging to stay allowed.”

“Deal. Thank you so so much!” Veronica hugged Betty in a sudden movement before the older girl could stop her. 

Betty just let out a sigh. 

“Thank me after you pitch it to your dad.”

 

> Betty

She chose to spend her study hall on the bleachers. No one bothered her there, and she could watch the 6th period gym class struggle through laps and push ups. 

She pulled out her latest read, Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night. Just as Viola was realizing that she loved the Duke, Betty felt the bleachers shake as someone approached her. Her first thought was that it might be Cheryl, who was known for sometimes skipping classes that she was bored with. But when she looked up, she saw none other than Jughead Jones taking a seat a few feet away from her.

“So Shakespeare huh?” He pointed to her book.

“Are we doing this again?”

He continued like she hadn’t spoken.

“I prefer the tragedies myself. Hamlet is an idiot but it’s fun to read about.”

Betty looked at him, not closing her book.

“Is that supposed to surprise me? I doubt you’ve read a comedy in your life.”

The boy shrugged and looked out at the football field.

“Much Ado About Nothing is okay. They think they hate each other but they actually love each other in the end.” Her gave her some kind of shit eating smirk. She was tempted to slap it off his face.

“If that’s a veiled metaphor, you’ve got this all wrong. This particular relationship isn’t a comedy, it’s a tragedy.”

The grin dropped from his face.

“I’m sorry. I’m just trying to be nice. Smooth things over from yesterday. Have a good conversation and try to turn things around.”

“What does it matter?”

Jughead looked her in the eye with what seemed like sincerity. 

“I don’t talk to many people here. I don’t want the one person that I went out of my way to speak to to hate me.”

“I don’t hate you. I just think you reek of testosterone and fragile masculinity.”

He placed his hand on his heart.

“Ouch. To be fair, Elizabeth Cooper, I might not know you very well, but you don’t know me either.”

Betty gave in and closed her book.

“I know what I’ve heard.”

“Is every rumor to pass through this school true?”

“No.” 

He looked at her like she was a puzzle that he couldn’t figure out.

“Let’s play a game. I tell you something about me, you tell me something about you.”

She rolled her eyes at him, feigning disinterest. “I don’t want to know anything about you.” But the more she talked to him, the more she wanted to know his motivation behind whatever he was trying to do here.

“Come on.” He gave her a smirk that was less shit-eating but still didn’t seem entirely him. She wondered what he looked like when he wasn’t putting on a front. “You must be a little bit curious. I know what people say about me around here. You’re not the only one who understands that there are two sides to every story.”

“Fine.” She said, because she wanted to see what he was going to ask her. “But only three things. Then you walk away.”

“If that’s how you wanna play it. Go ahead. Ask me something.”

Betty didn’t want to hit him with something hard and mean on her first question. Despite not understanding why he was doing this, she didn’t hold any real hostility towards him personally.

But she didn’t want to waste any time on questions like ‘whats your favorite color’ either.

“Why don’t you talk to anyone?”

He nodded like he’d seen this question coming.

“I figured out a long time ago that people are going to say what they want and make their own choices about me whether I engage in it or not. It doesn’t really matter what you have to say, it only matters what they’ve already decided about you in their heads. So what’s the point?”

“Cynical.” She said it off-handed, like she didn’t relate to everything he’d just said.

“And you’re not?” He challenged.

“Touche.”

He studied her face, but she wasn’t giving anything away.

“What about you? Why don’t you talk to anyone?”

“There are two sides to every story. No one wants to hear your side if the other side comes from a shinier more attractive source.”

He didn’t say anything. It seemed like he understood where she was coming from. He had to have heard something about her at some point. But he didn’t push her to elaborate, and she appreciated that.

Time to put it out there.

“Is your dad actually a gang leader?”

“Yes.” He answered easily, but he didn’t elaborate either. “What’s it like living with Hiram Lodge, owner of Lodge Industries?”

Betty searched her mind for the right word. “Decadent. He’s actually a pretty good guy. The whole being ridiculously rich thing hasn’t gone to his head yet.”

“There’s still time.” Jughead half-joked. 

She smiled at this involuntarily.

“Last question.” He said, looking out over the football field.

She knew exactly what it had to be. “Why me? Why would you ask me out on a date?”

His smile faltered a little bit, but only for a split second.

“Well you are Betty Cooper, ward to Hiram Lodge, owner of Lodge Industries. I’m a good old fashioned gold digger.”

“Sure.” She didn’t believe this for a second.

He turned his eyes to her. “Why did you say no?”

“I don’t know you.” She answered honestly.

He nodded. “Well maybe we can keep working on that.”

**_In the Attribution Theory, there are two overarching types of attributions. External or "situational" attributions assign blame to an outside factor, such as the weather, the other person who cut you off in traffic, a sick joke, something that someone else did a long time ago._ **

**_Internal attributions assign cause to factors within the person, such as ability or personality._ **   
****

**_This time, in assigning cause, Betty thought maybe there was something about her that this guy actually liked. She couldn’t place it yet, but maybe he actually did like talking to her. Jughead attributed Betty’s continued disinterest to the fact that maybe there was something completely unappealing about him that he hadn’t figured out yet._ **   
****

**_This time, they were both only half wrong._ **

 

> Archie

“You’re going to have to get money from an outside source.” Kevin pointed out at lunch that day. Archie had 4 hours left to figure out a plan, or Jughead would walk away from their deal and he’d never get to ask Veronica Lodge on a date.

“I know that Kevin.” There was a hint of annoyance in his voice.

“What are you thinking?”

“I don’t know yet.” The annoyance grew stronger.

“I have a thought.”

At this, Archie focused on Kevin, waiting for him to continue.

“You’re doing this because you want to get a date with Veronica, right? Well you’re not the only guy who wants that. Reggie Mantle has had a thing for her for awhile now.”

Archie looked across the room to where Reggie sat with the other football players, laughing at something stupid, while the girls at the table behind them looked on in admiration.

“How is that helpful?”

“Reggie has money. He might be willing to put some of it towards getting a date with Veronica.”

Archie watched as Kevin took a bite of yet another piece of grease covered pizza.

“But then he’d actually expect to get the date and I’d be shit out of luck.”

Kevin shook his head and swallowed.

“You’re over estimating his intelligence. Not the brightest crayon in the box.”

Archie looked over at Reggie again. He was literally flexing his bicep while the girls looked on.

“I don’t know Kevin.”

“I get it. He’s good looking. It’s threatening.” Kevin said, prompting Archie to shoot him a death glare. 

“Seriously Archie, the guy is as smart as a box of rocks.”

Archie looked one more time at Reggie and shook his head in defeat.

“Fine. I guess we don’t have any other options anyway.”

“That a boy.”

 

> Jughead

“So now you have Reggie fucking Mantle in on this?” Jughead shoveled some fries into his mouth, back at the same booth at Pop’s that had somehow become their rendezvous point.

Archie waved his hand like this was irrelevant. “He just thinks he’s in on this.”

“Wow.” Jughead nodded, but his face showed clear disapproval. “Foolproof plan.”

“Don’t worry about it. You’re getting your money either way. Just keep talking to her.”

At this, Jughead shook his head and went back to his fries.

“I want to give her some space for a few days. I’m not gonna be one of those creeps that can’t take a hint. I’ll talk to her but I’m not going to pressure her constantly.”

“That’s actually perfect.” Kevin jumped in. “Cheryl Blossom is throwing a party this Saturday. All the seniors will be there. My sources tell me even Betty is going. You can talk to her there.”

Jughead looked from Archie to Kevin incredulously. “You want me to go to a party?”

Archie wasn’t giving up. “You said you wanted to give her space for a few days. You can run into her at a party without it being creepy.”

Jughead stared at them a few seconds longer before sighing and picking up his cheeseburger.

 

**_It’s easy to attribute Jughead’s willingness to his need for cash. It’s also easy to attribute it to general greediness. That’s where you’d be wrong. Jughead Jones wasn’t greedy. And his reasons for pursuing Betty Cooper were already becoming more complicated than a need for money._ **

**_In a few days time, those complications would double._ **   
****

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading! let me know what you think so far. I'm liking this one- looking forward to writing some Cheryl next chapter :)
> 
> xx Allison


	3. Groupthink

_A Brief History of Parties_

_A month after The Rule was instituted, Veronica casually asked her father if she could go to a party at Josie McCoy’s house. They were best friends, after all, so maybe this party would be different. She came prepared with a list of reasons why it would be perfectly fine for her to go. He said no._

_Two weeks later, Moose Mason threw a party only a 10 minute walk from Veronica’s house. She didn’t ask if she could go. She waited until 11, when her parents were fast asleep, broke into the alarm system and snuck out the back door. She only stayed at the party for an hour and a half and had one drink. She didn’t want to risk staying out for too long. She was back by 1 AM and no one knew she was gone._

_A week later, Reggie Mantle threw a rager across town. She had to go. He was the hottest guy in school, he seemed into her, and his parties were said to be legendary. Josie picked her up two blocks away at 11. She had a beer and two cups of spiked punch, not realizing the differences in alcohol levels or even that the punch was 80% Bacardi. She was wasted at 1:30 when Josie drove her home. She tripped the alarm system coming in and her dad was on her in seconds. She hadn’t attempted to sneak out since._

_Archie Andrews had gone to a few parties his freshman year of high school, picturing that they would be like they were in the movies. After a few of them, he realized that the people who already thought he was a nerd were now drunk, and more free flowing in their words. The most popular girl in school had called him “dollar store Ed Sheeran” followed up by laughter from the entire group and shout outs of “when you buy it online vs when it arrives” and “deflated Cheeto puff.” As mean as it was, it was the only time anyone at the parties even spoke to him. He stopped going._

_Jughead didn’t go to parties. He sometimes came home to find his dad’s friends drunk, having some kind of sad party of their own, which usually made Jughead leave so he could avoid them._

_Betty had been to one party her freshman year. That’s a story for another time._

 

**_Groupthink occurs when a group of people insist on conformity to the point of completely avoiding raising any differing opinions, creativity, or uniqueness. High school is a perfect place for this to thrive, since everyone is afraid of being rejected. Riverdale High operated in two primary factions: the in-group and the out group. The football team, cheerleaders, the girls that the varsity jocks considered attractive- they floated above everyone else. But they still invited everyone in the school to their ragers. The more people there, the bigger the party, the crazier the outcome._ **

**_Cheryl managed to float just within the in group. She was pretty, captain of the cheerleading squad, but she didn’t actually associate with any of the popular people. This confused them, but since she wasn’t bothering them and in a position of power over some of them, they let her slide past. Having the biggest house in the town automatically meant that she would host the Back to Class party, and they all wanted to be on her good side for that._ **  
****

**_So for now, groupthink warranted that Cheryl and everyone and everything she cared about be left alone. Betty was on that list, so no one was bothering her. And since she was actually going to the party, Veronica had been able to convince her dad to let her go too._ **  
****

**_The girls had to promise to check in with him every hour on the hour, and curfew was set at midnight. This all hinged on Betty’s attendance of the party, so on Saturday afternoon when she left to go to Cheryl’s house, Veronica let out a sigh of relief that she would finally be able to enjoy herself at a party instead of worrying about sneaking back in afterwards._ **  
****

 

> Betty

Betty sat on Cheryl’s four poster bed, a bowl of tortilla chips placed between herself and Toni while Cheryl did her make up in the vanity mirror.

“Betty, I love you.” Cheryl stated as she applied her mascara. “And I will support you no matter what. But can you please consider using this occasion as an excuse to dress up a little bit?”

Betty gestured to her casual ensemble and feigned shock.

“You don’t like my flannel?”

Cheryl let out a sigh and turned to face her friend. She didn’t say a word, just held her eyes on Bettys.

Betty stared right back at her and gave a short shake of her head. “I’m not dressing up for these people.”

“But you’re not doing it for them. You should know by now that my greatest wish in life is to force all those assholes to recognize how gorgeous you are. This isn’t for them. Or for you, for that matter. It’s for me.”

“Yeah yeah.” Betty popped a chip in her mouth and waved this off. She’d heard it before and she was sure she’d hear it again. But then Toni spoke.

“What if we make a deal? Betty keeps her flannel, but Cheryl gets to change the other pieces of her outfit?”

It was Betty’s turn to let out a sigh.

“What does it matter to you?”

“B, you’re beautiful no matter what, but I genuinely think it would be fun for you to dress a little different for once. All these people are coming over here expecting exactly this from you.” Toni gestured to Betty’s worn in white tee, jeans and purple and blue flannel.

“Exactly!” Cheryl capped her mascara and put her full attention on Betty. “How fun would it be to show them your maximum level of hotness instead?”

Toni raised an eyebrow at her girlfriend.

“Maximum level of hotness?”

Cheryl shrugged, but didn’t take her eyes off of Betty for a second. And in the moment, Betty didn’t really see the point in arguing. She trusted her friends. They wouldn’t make her walk out of this room not feeling like herself. But if she let Cheryl dress her up a bit, maybe she’d never have to have this conversation again.

“You know what? Fine. Let’s do it. But it’s a one time deal, and I’m keeping my flannel.”

Cheryl ran to her giant walk in closet with a squeal as Betty plucked a chip from the bowl.

“By the way, what do you guys know about Jughead Jones?”

Toni looked up from the bowl of chips. “Jughead? Why?”

Betty tried to keep her voice as casual as possible. “He’s been talking to me. He actually asked me out the other day and I’m just wondering what his deal is.”

She waited for someone to call her out on not telling them about his proposal, but Cheryl was too concerned with her master plan, so after a moment of silence and held eye contact, Toni only said “Are you interested?”

“No, it just made me realize I don’t know a thing about the guy.”

Cheryl popped her head out from the closet and walked with purpose to the bed, a stack of clothing in hand. 

“Well he’s FP Jones son. The Serpents gang leader. Really shady guy.”

Toni nodded.

“He was in my photography class last year. Actually did really good work. I was kind of impressed to be honest. But I don’t think he has his own camera or anything, it was just an elective for his school credits.”

Betty watched as Cheryl sifted through the pile of dresses she had selected. A deep cut red number was vetoed and thrown back in the direction of the closet.

“Have you heard about him asking anyone out before?”

Toni shook her head and picked up the next dress in the stack, deep blue and completely backless, and threw it where the red one had gone moments before.

“No. He straight up doesn’t talk to anybody. Except sometimes the guys in his dad’s gang. Unclear whether he’s in the gang or not, he doesn’t confirm or deny it to anyone. What did he say to you?”

“Just asked me out on Tuesday, randomly at my locker, and then came and talked to me again on Wednesday during study hall. He’s in my English class, but other than those two times, he hasn’t talked to me.”

Cheryl selected a hanger and held it up in front of her as she spoke.

“Well you probably won’t see him again til Monday anyway. He never comes to these parties. He either hates them just as much as you or he thinks he’s too good for them. Put this on.”

Betty took the dress that Cheryl threw at her and hopped off the bed to change. Her new outfit was a far cry from the original white tee, jeans and flannel. It was fitted and black. It hugged her curves and even showed off a bit of cleavage. But she hadn’t pushed Betty completely out of her comfort zone to a plunging neck line or backless ensemble. 

“What do you think?” Cheryl prodded. 

“Where do I put the flannel?” Betty questioned.

Cheryl came over and tied the purple and blue flannel around Betty’s waist. 

“You can keep the converse.” She said, pointing to Betty’s black low tops. “But the hair is coming down and we’re putting some lipstick on.” 

 

> Veronica

“I can’t believe your dad actually let you come tonight.” Josie squeezed Veronica’s hand as they stood at the Blossoms kitchen island. 

“It still feels too good to be true.” Ethel Muggs pointed out from Veronica’s other side. 

“Well I only have until midnight.”

“Like Cinderella.”

Veronica quickly adjusted her hair so it fell exactly the way she wanted it over her shoulder and straightened the hem of her black and yellow floral dress. The party was already going strong and Veronica and her friends had spent the last hour mingling with people from their class.

Unlike most of the people here, she’d actually been to the Blossom manor on several occasions. She knew that this first floor was a giant loop. Right now, they were in the extravagant kitchen, followed by a study that was locked tonight, a ridiculously large guest bathroom and a massive living room followed by a huge entryway that she could now see people coming in and out of. The two stories above held 7 bedrooms and 5 more bathrooms, as well as two only slightly smaller sitting rooms. It was a beautiful house, already being trashed by the student body of Riverdale High. 

Veronica glanced around the kitchen and noticed a group of football players standing near the sliding glass door to the backyard. “Reggie Mantle is looking over here.” 

“He’s not just looking over here, Veronica, he’s looking at you.” Josie nudged her friend with her elbow.

Veronica glanced back at Reggie to see that Josie was telling the truth. She quickly looked away and saw Kevin Keller coming towards them with the new red headed boy in her Econ class.

“Veronica. You look gorgeous.” Kevin gave her a big smile which she instantly returned. She and Kevin had never been close, but she had always liked him. The new boy had been nice to her on his first day, but she couldn’t honestly remember his name. They’d only talked twice.

“Thanks Kevin. You look pretty good yourself.”

The red headed boy started to say something, but someone cleared their throat loudly to Veronica’s left. She looked over to see Reggie Mantle looking right at her. 

“Hey Veronica. Could I get you another drink?”

He gave her a smile that made her chest bubble up. Glancing back at Josie, she saw her friend watching her, wide eyed and waiting, and knew there was only one clear answer to the question.

“Sure Reggie.”

 

**_With an hour left before B & V’s curfew, things weren’t going as everyone expected. But they were going exactly as everyone should have assumed they would. Reggie Mantle had walked over and swooped Veronica away before Archie could say a word to her. Veronica was happy to talk to him; he was the school quarterback after all. And Betty was counting down the minutes until she could leave. 59. 58. 57._ **

**_But at the 57 minute mark, the in group and the out group made an unfortunate collision. As Betty was walking through the kitchen, one boy from the football team slapped another one on the shoulder, knocking the second boys drink off balance, sending its contents out of the cup and onto the flannel tied around Betty’s waist._ **  
****

**_But even with this unplanned collision, the boy didn’t say a word to Betty, only walked away, leaving her seething with anger while he and the rest of his friends joined in laughter at her expense._ **  
****

**_Since he chose not to say anything, no one else that saw the incident made a move to say anything either. As Betty opened the sliding glass door to the backyard, no one moved to help her. Except for a boy in a leather jacket who had been watching from across the room._ **  
****

 

> Jughead

 

She was clearly unhappy with the way that things had been going tonight. Jughead had a feeling that this was true even before the drink incident. He’d arrived at the party an hour ago, and when he first saw her he had noticed two immediate differences in her. 

One, she was wearing a dress. This had never happened before. She looked nice, really nice, but Jughead wasn’t sure that was new. It was just all the more clear with her hair down and lipstick making it hard to look away.

Two, she looked even more irritated than she normally did. Jughead hadn’t known that this was possible. So he’d kept his distance until now, waiting for a good time to approach. When the drink spilled, he realized a good time was never going to come. He also realized that irritation was coming over him too when the stupid guys started laughing at her, so following her out the door and away from the party seemed like the best bet. 

He found her standing underneath a large willow tree a few yards from the house, her arms crossed over her chest. 

He cleared his throat and she turned to look at him.

“You look like you’re really enjoying yourself.”

She shook her head and looked away.

“Even whatever was in that cup couldn’t make me want to go back in that house.”

Jughead gestured back towards the house and moved a little bit closer to her.

“Veronica seems to be having a good time.”

“No surprise there.”

Jughead nodded to himself. He wasn’t the best at small talk. He’d always known this. But since the beginning of this whole thing with Betty, it had become even more obvious. So he made the executive decision in that moment to just say exactly what he was actually thinking.

“You’re a good sister or whatever. For coming here with her. I’ve heard Hiram Lodge can be a bit tyrannical with letting his princess out of the house.”

Betty looked over at him, uncrossing her arms. Progress.

“He just loves her a lot. And he’s not stupid. She’s pretty. He knows guys like her. He just doesn’t realize that when they find out how smart she is they’ll run for the hills.”

Jughead laughed at this. Mostly because she was probably right.

“You don’t give teenage boys a lot of credit.”

Betty scoffed. “Do they deserve any?”

“No. They don’t.” When he said this, she gave him a small smile. It was the first one that he’d seen from her all night. He realized that he was actually a little bit worried about her.

“Some of us aren’t complete monsters.” He commented.

“Says the guy who rode up on a motorcycle.”

He smirked at this.

“You saw me ride up?”

She just pinned his eyes to hers, her face giving nothing away.

“Why are you here anyway?”

He decided to go with a half truth.

“I have no idea. I hate these things. No offense to your friend. Just an excuse for everyone to get wasted and hit on each other.”

She untied the wet flannel from her waist and held it out in front of her like it was contaminated with deadly chemicals.

“Does whatever everyones drinking taste as much like urine as my flannel smells right now?”

Jughead shrugged.

“I wouldn’t know.”

“You haven’t had a drink?”

“I don’t drink.” She looked surprised. Of course she was. “What, a guy can’t ride a motorcycle and abstain from alcohol simultaneously?”

“Apparently he can.” She looked back at the flannel in her hands with a sigh.

“Here, let me smell it.” 

He reached out for the flannel but she pulled it out of his reach, shaking her head.

“That’s disgusting.”

“Just let me smell it.” He moved closer.

She shook her head, but extended the hand with the flannel in it back towards him.

“Okay freak.” She said it good naturally and he leaned in to take a whiff of the shirt in her hands. The look on his face must have been ridiculous because she laughed.

“What did I say? Disgusting.”

Jughead went to untie the flannel from his own waist.

“You can have mine.”

Betty took two steps back and put up her hands in front of her.

“Whoa whoa whoa Prince Charming, I don’t need your flannel.”

Jughead knew this. If there was one thing he had learned about Betty Cooper it was that she didn’t need anything from anyone. That wasn’t why he was offering. 

“No, but you want it. Because as nice as you look, you don’t want people staring at your ass when you walk back in those doors. Theres a reason you don’t normally dress that way.”

She glanced at the black and grey flannel in his hands and back to her own, soaked through and truly smelling like urine.

“Just this once.” She acquiesced.

“Just this once.” He held the flannel out to her and she took it, tieing it around her waist quickly.

“And this doesn’t mean anything. Don’t get excited.”

He smiled.

“I’ll try not to.”

She looked over at him, standing there smiling, and shook her head.

“You should be careful. You’ll ruin your reputation as a bad boy.”

“Nah. I might be helpful sometimes, but I still lied to you.”

Her eyes narrowed at this. 

“What are you lying about?” She demanded.

“I told you I didn’t know why I came here tonight. That’s not true. I had heard a rumor that this girl who shot me down was going to be here with her sister.”

Betty rolled her eyes at him. Even in the dark, he could see a hint of a smile hiding within them.

“If she shot you down, what does it matter?”

He let out a sigh and took a step back towards the party.

“That’s the embarrassing part. Even though she finds me completely repulsive, I still like talking to her.”

He turned on his heel and started to walk away. After a few steps, she called out from behind him.

“She doesn’t find you COMPLETELY repulsive.”

He didn’t turn to look back at her, but a smile broke out on his face.

“Good to know.”

As he left the party, Jughead couldn't help but wonder how angry Betty would be if she found out that he still wasn't telling her the whole truth. He told himself it didn't matter. That marked the moment that Jughead started to lie to himself too.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you've all had a great week! Let me know what you think of this chapter. I'm having a hard time deciding how I feel about this fic.  
> xx Allison

**Author's Note:**

> Hope you like the start of this new fic!  
> xx Allison


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